I'm not disrespecting Mayne at all. Had a great year.
But when all are fit & firing it's bloody tough not to leave somebody out that deserves a place in the 22. Have a crack & see who you have to leave out yourself.
The list is deep & the competition for spots in that 22 will be fierce. It's a good position to be in.
I couldn't find a spot for Mayne, Reid, Aish, Greenwood, Scharenberg or Thomas. All would be considered stiff to miss a gig. But so would any I removed from my 22 to make way for them.

Brownlow Medallist

I'm not disrespecting Mayne at all. Had a great year.
But when all are fit & firing it's bloody tough not to leave somebody out that deserves a place in the 22. Have a crack & see who you have to leave out yourself.
The list is deep & the competition for spots in that 22 will be fierce. It's a good position to be in.
I couldn't find a spot for Mayne, Aish, Greenwood, Scharenberg or Thomas. All would be considered stiff to miss a gig. But so would any I removed from my 22 to make way for them.

Premiership Player

I entirely disagree with your thoughts on Sier. I see him as one of the first, not last picked, and certainly don't see his spot as 'up for grabs'. If a 29 year old Beams has been recruited to play his role in the 22 then I think our recruiters have erred bigtime in trading for him. Sier is not an outside player - he revels in close in work, is lightning fast under extreme pressure in affecting a handball to a player in space, is built like the proverbial brick shithouse, and would be utterly wasted as an outside/utility. And unlike Beams, under pressure he doesn't just throw the ball on his boot and hope for the best. Some of his kicks to De Goey, Cox, Stephenson and others in the forward line have been superb.

I may have grossly misjudged his worth as a player prior to this year but would now actually prefer him to Beams in the team as I think he has heaps of upside whereas Beams is approaching the end of his career. I don't know how selectors plan to fit both players into the team, but if Sier plays VFL or some peripheral role, I am going to switch my allegiance to some third rate outfit like Gold Coast rather than watch Sier usurped by an aging ex-hero, who a few years back, couldn't get out of the club fast enough.

I really like Sier, but he’s not one of the first picked in the midfield. Pendlebury, Treloar, Adams and Sidebottom are all picked ahead of him at a minimum. I’d add Beams to that list too. I care little for potential at this stage, this is a list currently good enough to win a premiership. At this stage, I’d suggest that Beams is the better player than Sier. The reality is that Beams coming to the club either rejigs the midfield or Beams plays more of an outside or forward role.

No doubt, but with players like Beams, Elliott, Moore and Dunn set to enter the best 22 that didn’t play in the GF it means some players have to make way. I can only find room for one of Varcoe, Aish, Mayne or Greenwood in mine, all of whom had pretty good 2018 seasons.

Brownlow Medallist

I really like Sier, but he’s not one of the first picked in the midfield. Pendlebury, Treloar, Adams and Sidebottom are all picked ahead of him at a minimum. I’d add Beams to that list too. I care little for potential at this stage, this is a list currently good enough to win a premiership. At this stage, I’d suggest that Beams is the better player than Sier. The reality is that Beams coming to the club either rejigs the midfield or Beams plays more of an outside or forward role.

No doubt, but with players like Beams, Elliott, Moore and Dunn set to enter the best 22 that didn’t play in the GF it means some players have to make way. I can only find room for one of Varcoe, Aish, Mayne or Greenwood in mine, all of whom had pretty good 2018 seasons.

Proposed modifications
- I think the bench needs at least one defender on it for rotations. Drop Wells and introduce Quaynor, Murphy or Aish depending upon pre-season form and the opposition mix.
- I think Phillips, as our best runner, should take a wing. I'd leave out Thomas given the reintroduction of Elliott to the team and place either Adams, but probably Treloar, on the bench as part of the midfield rotations..

Otherwise, I think the team is a very strong one. it'd be great to field a team of this quality throughout the season.

Don't think Elliot will make our best 22 round 1. He's probably competing for one of the two bench spots with Mayne and Varcoe, but what kind of message does it send to the entire team if we play Elliot over Mayne/Varcoe who are both reliable and team-oriented players just because he was close to an A grader a couple of seasons ago?

Elliot also can only play 1 position on the ground, and that small/medium forward role will be highly in demand with WHE/Thomas/De Goey/Stephenson playing there for the majority of the team, and Treloar/Beams/Mayne/Varcoe rotating through. Even for team dynamics Elliot just doesn't fit into our team. For this argument i want to see Quaynor earning a bench spot to rotate through our defence, pushing Langdon/Howe to play KPD for limited minutes, allowing Roughhead/Moore to give Grundy a chop-out while allowing Cox to maintain our structure up-forward.

After all, I think Elliot still has what it takes to make it to our best 22 eventually, but Elliot will continue to build up fitness and form in the VFL at least for the opening rounds of 2019.

Don't think Elliot will make our best 22 round 1. He's probably competing for one of the two bench spots with Mayne and Varcoe, but what kind of message does it send to the entire team if we play Elliot over Mayne/Varcoe who are both reliable and team-oriented players just because he was close to an A grader a couple of seasons ago?

Elliot also can only play 1 position on the ground, and that small/medium forward role will be highly in demand with WHE/Thomas/De Goey/Stephenson playing there for the majority of the team, and Treloar/Beams/Mayne/Varcoe rotating through. Even for team dynamics Elliot just doesn't fit into our team. For this argument i want to see Quaynor earning a bench spot to rotate through our defence, pushing Langdon/Howe to play KPD for limited minutes, allowing Roughhead/Moore to give Grundy a chop-out while allowing Cox to maintain our structure up-forward.

After all, I think Elliot still has what it takes to make it to our best 22 eventually, but Elliot will continue to build up fitness and form in the VFL at least for the opening rounds of 2019.

I dig what you’re trying to say about rewarding those who are durable and consistent and have come through VFL such as Mayne and Varcoe but Elliott is simply too good to not play if he’s fit. He’s not coming from a long way back - it’s December and he’s already training very strongly.

Debutant

Adams and Sier are not so versatile, and have to be inside mids.
Sidey, Beams and Treloar are all versatile and can play wing, forward and rotating into mid.
With the 6-6-6 rule the wings have a lot more space coming out of centre bounces and will be used strategically. Expect to see gun players used off the wing more than in the past.